Just before I turn on the blender, I tell Sadie to go wake up Jared and Maggie. Seconds later, I hear them grumbling.
“Mom. I don’t want to go to school today,” Jared whines trying to be cute.
“Happy New Year!” I shout from the kitchen once the blender is off.
Both of them stroll with their hair a mess, rubbing their eyes. “Oh, Emma made us food!” Jared sings.
“I don’t know why you won’t date Emma. You’d be a great Mom,” Maggie claims.
I choose not to respond. I know that Maggie just wants me to be happy, and because she will be happy married and with kids of her own, I think she believes that I would be too, if I’d just give it a try.
I don’t date, I’ve never dated and that’s by choice. I’m not a virgin by far. I’ve had several men that I’ve slept with. Okay, I’ve slept with a lot of men, but I don’t do relationships. I simply use the men for sex. A girl has needs too.
I won’t sleep with just any guy, I have certain criteria that need to be met before a man is even considered. For starters, it has to be a man that I don’t know. I’m not into the whole one-night stand thing, though a few of them turned out fine. However, I’m not interested in knowing a guy too well. I like my privacy and my distance. Guys have to be more like an acquaintance of a friend’s acquaintance so there is a separation of having too much contact with them once I’ve had my fill of them. He needs to be handsome, attractive. I need to be physically turned on by the man enough, but how he speaks also plays a huge role in it too. I’ve slept with some dumb ones, the male model type who have braun but not much brains. They are the easiest to lie to about what I do and where I live, but they are the ones who usually get attached the quickest so I’m only able to use them about three or four times maximum. I stay away from the jock brains. I’ve slept with a few cute geeky guys, but I like men with more meat to their bodies. A physically fit man has a bit more stamina. I tend to sway towards the average guy, they are easy on the eyes, decent build, and who usually get overlooked at first glance by most women. The only challenge with them is that they have a tendency to want a relationship too, like the models, but the average guys last about two to three times longer.
There are also edicts that I’ve established for myself to minimize any casualties. I have several golden rules that I haven’t swayed from since I started sleeping with men. One, no dates allowed; I don’t schedule a date before or after meeting them. Two, never sleep over their place. Once we’ve finished, I get dressed and leave. This usually shocks them, I guess I act more like a guy than they expect. Three, never have a guy over to my place for any reason. Jared is the only exception, but he doesn’t count. Four, never let them know where I live, lie if I must. This is to reinforce the previous rule. Five, end things before they start to want more. Six, always use protection. Seven, never pick up a guy in a particular social setting that I may frequently attend. And, eight, always have more than one exit strategy.
“What time does your mom need us today?” I ask.
“Around nine,” Maggie confirms as she stuffs a huge bit of bagel into her mouth.
“Good. Then we’ve got enough time for you two to get ready and head down on the train without rushing,” I say to keep them focused on some semblance of a schedule before I finish gulping down my smoothie.
“What time are we supposed to meet Romeo?” Jared teases Maggie as he takes a few bites of turkey bacon.
Maggie looks at him with her eyes squinting a little and her mouth scrunched to one side as she considering how to reply. “Twelve-thirty.”
She tries so hard to appear angry, but Maggie has never really done angry well. I’ve never really seen her angry actually.
“I hope you aren’t going to wear sweats today Emma. Mom wouldn’t let you live it down,” Maggie says trying to change the subject.
“No. Of course not. I planned on changing after we had breakfast. Besides, I can dress however I want. I’m not the one meeting….” I attempt to pick on her too, but I fall short of calling him Romeo.
“Ha, ha. Very funny,” Maggie says, trying shrug off my lightheartedness while still attempting to appear mad and offended as Jared snickers.
“What did you bring to put on?” I ask.
“I know it will be cool, yet warmer than usual, so I brought a cute new red dress. Amy helped me pick it out,” Maggie’s excitement is returning. “What are you wearing?”
“I’ve got a red, silk, long sleeve fitted blouse and jeans that I was going to wear with those red velvet flats I bought when we went to the outlets a few weeks ago,” I reply.
“Are you going to wear those new ruby studs you got too?” Jared questions.
“Yep. That’s why I got them,” I answer.
“When did you get ruby studs?” Maggie asks.
“When Jared was here last week going over the Naturally Me schedule with me. We did a little shopping afterward to celebrate the pet division,” I explain.
“That’s right. I remember you telling me,” she recollects.
“How about you Jared?” Maggie inquires. “What are you wearing?”
“I’m keeping it simple this year. Just a new red long sleeve henley shirt with jeans and my brown slip-on dress shoes. I felt like going relaxed this year,” Jared responds.
Red is a symbolic color in Chinese tradition. It’s a color of luck which is why each one of us wears the color in one form or another for the day.
“Well, one of you needs to get into the shower,” I interject after checking the time.
“Yes, Mom,” they say simultaneously. They help me put away any food we didn’t eat and rinse the dishes.
Jared lets Maggie shower first since his hair doesn’t take as long to dry. I bounce back and forth from my room to the bathroom starting to get dressed and fix my hair and make-up while Maggie showers. Jared sits on my bed, updating me on the latest news of his fans' reactions from the past week. Once Maggie is done, she leaves the water running so Jared can hop in. We all feel completely comfortable being naked around each other. Jared’s gay so there’s no weirdness there. He admires the female body but has never been turned on by it. Women, like Maggie and me, have no challenge being naked in front of each other for a variety of reasons.
Once we’re all done getting ready, I grab Sadie’s dog bag. We head down to the train platform that is in the middle of my apartment complex and jump on the next train heading South. A few stops later we’re in Chinatown.
Before leaving with Maggie to meet up with Henry, we gather with Maggie’s family; Nǎinai, Mrs. and Mr. Li, Mr. Li’s brother and Amy’s parents Jie and Jiao, Amy, Jet and Eric, Eric’s parents P’eng and Xiu, Eric’s older sister Kim, Kim’s husband Peter, and their two children Jade and Rey.
The children are given their Lai See first. Lai See, which means Good Luck, is a Chinese tradition that involves giving money in red envelopes from the senior members of the family to the junior members. Pretty much, married couples give Lai See to unmarried relatives, friends, and colleagues. All three children, Jet, Rey, and Jade receive Lai See. This is one of my favorite traditions, not for receiving any money, but because I can give the children a substantial amount of money each year for their future. The whole family says I always go a little overboard, but the Li family has given me so much, more than money can buy.
Nǎinai says several prayers welcoming in the new year, followed by specific and special blessings for each of us. When Nǎinai gets to Jared she bestows upon him happiness and love but specifies love for Jared in the same-sex realm of things. Mrs. and Mr. Li shake their heads disapprovingly at Nǎinai’s little show but don’t say a word. The whole family knows Jared is gay. They don’t judge him and have considered him a son because of the friendship he has with Maggie and the rest of the family. I think Nǎinai was just making sure that everyone was paying attention to her. Nǎinai turns to Maggie and bestows her with happiness, love, and marriage and outwardly states that the family would be grateful if it is with Henry. Mrs. Li mutters under her breath. Mr. Li chooses to just ignore her. Then, Nǎinai gets to me. She wishes for me to find happiness and love, not just with the family that sits around me, but with my own family with a loving husband and children. She emphasizes the words husband and children. My eyes are as wide as they can get as I’m mortified and distressed at her proclamation. She’s blessed me to be happy and to find love, but she’s never specifically uttered those additional words before. She kisses the top of my head as her hands hold my head.
“Looks like love is coming your way too, Emma,” goads Jared.
“Not funny Jared,” I mutter under my breath while looking down at the floor.
“Maybe Henry has a cute friend. Wouldn’t that be funny?” Jared announces, getting louder for the whole family to hear.
“Oh, that would be so much fun! We could date together! There were a few times he came into the restaurant with a friend or colleague,” Maggie shouts with excitement.
Nǎinai smiles at me, pleased with herself. All I can do is purse my lips to stiffly any kind of a reaction or response. Jet, who was playing on the ground with Sadie, suddenly decides to try to pull himself up using my pant leg which is a much-welcomed distraction for me and to ease out of the embarrassment I just felt.
Unfortunately, Nǎinai decides to use Jet as confirmation for her blessing, “See how Jet is with you and you with Jet. You’re a natural.” Jared and Maggie crack up at Nǎinai’s continuation.
Mr. Li scolds Nǎinai in my defense, “Leave Emma be.”
He rarely intervenes and I nod in appreciation.
“Oh, Emma knows I’m just playing. Right, Emma?” Nǎinai retorts a little too proud of herself.
“Sure,” I calmly reply as my focus turns back to Jet who is sitting on my lap. He’s playing with a strand of my hair as he tries to reach for the red sparkling studs in my ear lobe.
Maggie taps her watch discreetly to indicate that we need to get to the library to meet Henry.
Nǎinai catches Maggie out of the corner of her eye and blurts, “Are you running late for a date Maggie?”
“What? No,” Maggie bashfully tries to deny.
“Don’t lie. I know when you’re lying,” Nǎinai alleges as she wags a finger at Maggie. “Are you going to see Henry?”
“No. We, umm…the parade will be starting soon. We should head out,” Maggie declares.
Jared tries hard to suppress a smile and giggle. Nǎinai watches Jared, Maggie and me carefully.
“Oh just go already,” Mrs. Li shouts in desperation.
We always walk down to the parade together, so my guess is she knows what’s going on. You can’t sneak anything past Maggie’s mother.
“Thanks, Mom. Love you!” Maggie squeals as she jumps up out of her seat. She practically runs to the closet by the front door to get our coats. I grab Sadie’s leash on my way over.
Once on the street heading towards the library, Jared asks, “So, how do you want this to go down Mags?”
“What?”
“Do you want us standing right there? You know, like you’re obviously with us, or do you want us to stand off to the side talking?” Jared asks.
“I don’t know. Why?” By the expression on her face, Maggie’s anxiety level has just gone up a few levels.
“Well, it all depends on what kind of a vibe you want to give off. Do you want him to know you’re here with friends or not? Do you want to intimidate him a little with us being there or not?” Jared explains.
“I…I don’t know,” Maggie says with worry in her tone as she stops.
“Stop freaking her out Jared,” I say, punching him in the arm.
“I’m not trying to freak her out. I just want to know how she wants us to approach the guy right away or wait for her signal,” Jared replies.
He honestly is trying to help her, but his timing is horrible.
“How about we’ll play it by ear and if she wants us to move away before he gets there, she’ll let us know?” I suggest.
“I like that,” Maggie says, calming a little.
Just a building away from the library, Maggie suddenly stops in her tracks.
“You okay Maggie?” I ask with concern.
“Yeah…” she reacts as her voices trails offer.
She’s in a dead stare and I follow her gaze. Two men are standing and talking at the base of the stairs to the library. The Asian guy looks and turns his attention to us. His friend’s back is to us and they are too far for us to hear their conversation before to they stop.
Maggie moves forward, to who I assume is Henry, and at the same time, he instinctually moves toward her. Jared and I proceed to follow Maggie but we keep a few steps behind her to give them some space. There is a connection between the two of them, there’s no denying it. They stop about a foot away from each other, eager to talk and touch bodies but refrain from physical contact.
Henry is as tall as me and his five foot eight inches stature towers a little over Maggie’s five-foot-three petite frame. He’s slim, but you can tell that he is muscular even under his lean dark grey jacket, white with thing red pin-striped button-down dress shirt, matching pants. I can tell his clothes are of high quality without seeing the labels.
My attention is suddenly pulled away from Maggie and Henry chatting when my gaze falls upon the face of Henry’s friend who was following Henry a few steps back. I pause for a brief moment as we lock eyes. I regain my movement forward when I realize that I had suddenly stopped.
“You alright, Emma?” Jared asks with a weird look on his face.
It takes me a few seconds to pull my attention away from the handsome friend. “Yeah. I just wanted to give them a little more space.”
“Good idea,” Jared replies as he drapes his arm around my neck and whispers in my ear, “So do you think he’s gay or not gay?”
“Who?” I question confused as I try to retain my composure.
“The friend,” Jared states playfully.
My eyes shift back to Henry’s friend. It feels like he never looked away. He smiles a half-cocked grin that curves up on the left side of his face. He too is wearing high-quality clothing; wearing a light blue button-down dress shirt that makes his eyes sparkle. His navy blue jacket is draped in his arms. This man is stunning—handsome. He has physical qualities that would allow him to be a male model if he chooses, but he’s got an air of confidence and something else that I can’t quite make out in his stare. Luscious, thick dark brown hair adorns his head, but has flicks of what I would think is natural golden highlights. He’s taller than me, but only by a few inches, and he is only about an inch or two shorter than Jared. This man is yummy and my lady parts react instantly.
“Definitely not gay,” I answer quietly.
For a gay man, Jared doesn’t have the best gaydar. I’m his default detector.
“Damn,” He sighs.
I force myself to pay attention to Maggie and Henry but the friend’s ocean blue eyes have me mesmerized.
“This is Jared and Emma.”
The sound of Maggie’s voice mentioning my name brings me back to reality and I force my eyes to look at her and Henry.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Henry,” he offers, shaking Jared’s hand. He then reaches for me though I do not return the gesture.
I have a thing about touching strangers.
“And this my best friend, Joe,” Henry continues politely, not seeming offended by my rudeness.
Compose yourself, Emma. I watch Joe and Jared shake hands and when Joe looks at me, I simply smile and nod. A look of disappointment appears on his face when I don’t shake his hand. I never care. I shouldn’t care, yet for some strange reason, I kind of do.
“You’ll have to excuse Emma. She’s not very personable with strangers,” Jared says.
“Who is this?” Joe squats down to make himself eye level with Sadie but keeps his attention on my face.
His enigmatic smile has returned and he looks even yummier than before.
“That’s Sadie,” Maggie introduces for me.
Henry is a little timid to bend down like Joe. Joe doesn’t move to touch Sadie and seems to be waiting for permission from me or her.
Looking at Sadie, I can tell she’s a little uneasy, which she is getting from me. I signal to her that it’s okay to greet and Joe is her first target since he’s right in front of her. Joe pets her vigorously from head to toe as if he’s used to dogs and Sadie loves the attention. Sadie stays focused on Joe and keeps her body up against his like she’s hoping that Joe will keep petting her as she greets Henry. She senses Henry’s apprehension and goes easy with him.
Before he reaches to pet her, Maggie says, “Sadie won’t hurt you! She’s a big softy and is great with my niece and nephews.”
The tension in Henry’s body relaxes a little as he reaches his hand forward to let Sadie sniff him.
“Here,” Maggie encourages Henry and Sadie by putting her hand next to his slightly touching it, “She’ll smell me mixed with you which will make it easier for you both.”
Sadie sniffs his hand and gladly lets Maggie guide Henry’s hand over her head.
“See, she likes you,” Maggie says reassuringly.
“We should walk and talk to make it back,” Jared suggests.
We all agree and start moving towards the parade route. Maggie and Henry are in front talking to each other. They seem very calm in the way they speak is as if they’ve known each other for a long time. Jared, Joe, Sadie, and I follow closely behind them not talking. Jared is closest to the store entrances as our arms are entwined, Sadie is between me and Joe, and Joe is along the curbside mirroring Henry.
We easily find Nǎinai and the rest of the family about fifteen minutes before the parade starts. Nǎinai gleams with enthusiasm, not for the parade but at seeing Henry and Joe. Maggie makes introductions to the whole family in English. She explains who’s related to whom and Jared adds how he and I tie into the whole family—like a brother and sister to her. Maggie and Henry stand side by side followed by myself with Jared behind me, then Sadie and Joe. The whole family listens intently to Maggie and then begins asking Henry a few questions.
“My parents are somewhere here. This is our first time seeing the parade in Chinatown. Usually, we’re either back home in China or up in San Francisco to celebrate,” Henry answers openly.
“What are your plans for the rest of the day once the parade concludes?” Nǎinai asks in Mandarin, testing the boundaries of Maggie’s new love interest.
“Nothing really. Since we aren’t familiar with the celebrations here we figured we just follow along with what others were doing. We aren’t here with any other family members currently,” Henry replies in Mandarin.
The whole family takes note of his fluency.
“Great! Then you, Blue Eyes here, and your parents can join us for dinner,” Nǎinai insists.
Jared chuckles at Nǎinai knowing who she is referring to by calling him Blue Eyes. Mrs. and Mr. Li are pleased that Nǎinai has invited them and urges them to join us. They are curious about Henry and his family.
Though she’s giddy from all of the excitement, I notice that Nǎinai is cold, so I take off my jacket to cover her.
“Thank you, Emma,” Nǎinai says warmly. “Now Blue Eyes can get a better look at you and your voluptuous body.”
I take a deep breath, shake my head and try not to roll my eyes at her. I know what she’s trying to do. I hope that Joe doesn’t understand Mandarin.
Jared does not contain his laughter as he hugs me from behind to keep me warm.
“Not funny Jared,” I scold him as I look from him to suddenly Joe to see his reaction.
Maybe I can find out if he knows Mandarin too since he is Henry’s best friend. He just looks at me and grins like he does each time our eyes meet.
“He doesn’t know what I’m saying, ” Nǎinai claims, slightly taunting me as she sees me studying Joe’s face. “Look at him. He’s been smiling the whole time and his face hasn’t changed. I could tell him you’re madly in love with him and want to have his babies, and he’d just smile and nod.”
The music begins and the parade commences, interrupting Nǎinai’s goodhearted entertainment at my expense. After a while, Jade and Rey are running around our group playing and imitating the dancing that is taking place. Rey, who is only three, pretends that he is either a dragon or a lion. I’m not quite sure which. He’s chasing after his older sister, Jade, who is six. Jared snatches Rey up which Rey loves.
“Unky Jay,” Rey shouts giggling. “Shoulders!”
Knowing what Rey is asking for, Jared complies. I shiver at the disappearance of his body heat. Suddenly, I feel warmth blanketing around me. Joe had placed his jacket around my shoulders. It smells sinfully delicious and feels cozy.
“Thank you,” I reply.
Joe leans into my right ear. “You’re welcome.”
His warm breath is refreshing against my cheek. Our eyes meet again as he pulls his face away slowly.
“Looks like you have an admirer,” pokes Jared.
I ignore him and bump him with my hip.
Jade stays near her brother holding onto my waist. I can see it in her face that she wishes she could be held up like that too. She’s petite and I could easily holder her myself. I’ve done it before. I offer to hold her, but Jade declines.
“You look really pretty today Emma,” she says. “Not that you never don’t look pretty. I just don’t —”
“I can hold you up if you’d like,” Joe offers with a smile.
Jade, though shy, immediately answers by moving over towards Joe and holding her arms up to him.
“Look, Emma, he’s even great with kids. My blessing of love and marriage has come to you early this year!” Nǎinai says.
“You’ve given me the same blessing the past two years Nǎinai,” I retort back in Mandarin. “And it didn’t happen then.”
There is no way her blessing is coming true anytime soon if I have anything to do with it.
Nǎinai regards me and comments, “It will happen. I didn’t bless you with a husband and children in the past.”
My mouth opens as I’m about to rebut, but there’s a look in her eye that I’ve never seen before. It’s an expression that has a sense of unshakeable definitiveness. It’s a little creepy and I decide not to continue this conversation by closing my mouth.
At one point, Joe leans over to me and says something that was drowned out by all the music and noise.
Because I can't hear him, I’m forced to lean in to hear him better. “What?”
His eyes widen and his smile opens more showing some teeth as he repeats himself, “Did I miss the memo about wearing red today?”
Knowing what he’s trying to do, I choose not to be rude, “In the Chinese culture, red is considered good luck.” I guess his best friend failed to inform him. I wonder if this is his first Chinese New Year.
Overhearing us, Jade leans down and asks if he’s ever celebrated New Year before. “Yes,” he replies, “But, not a Chinese New Year.”
Jade giggles and then leans over to me and whispers a question.
I look at Joe first as if I’m considering it, he gives me an inquisitive look because he didn’t hear what Jade said. Because there is no way I’m turning down this beautiful little girl, I smile at her, reach into my purse, and give her a twenty-dollar bill.
“You choose. Just don’t go too far,” I say.
Jade beams and asks Joe to be let down. She stays within view as she stops over at a cart that is about fifteen feet away. I notice that Joe keeps his attention on her as well. Just a moment or two later, Jade comes back with something. She holds out one hand to give me the change and I tell her to keep it. Her happiness turns into a full ray of sunshine as she shoves the money into her jacket pocket before anyone sees it. Keeping what she bought hidden in her other hand, she directs Joe, “I need your wrist. No peeking.”
He gladly obeys and fixes his gaze on me.
“There. All done,” Jade exclaims after tying it on. “Do you like it?”
Joe’s attention stays on me for a split second longer before looking down at his wrist. She adorned it with a beautiful red beaded bracelet with a gold Chinese coin.
“It’s perfect. Thank you,” he confirms with a full smile directed to Jade. He takes her hand and kisses the back of it. “Ready to go back up?”
Jade nods, reaches her arms up, and in one fluid movement, she’s back on his shoulders. For a moment, I can’t take my eyes off of him. When he starts to turn in my direction, I immediately look up at Jade to throw him off before I return my attention to the parade.
As the parade continues for the next several hours, we all watch in amazement. At one point I place my arms through the sleeves of Joe’s jacket. I purposefully resist the urge to looking in Joe’s direction other than to look up at Jade only a few times. He bounces her up and down as she waves her arms in the air.
Once the parade is finished, Jade and Rey join some other children playing in the street. All of the children are picking up the pieces of paper confetti and then throwing them back up into the air. Maggie announces that she’s going with Henry to bring his parents back to the house. I ask if she wants us to join them but she politely refuses. Obviously, she wants some privacy with Henry.
Kim starts to call Rey and Jade to join the family back at the house, but I tell her that I can stay with them so they can play until Maggie and Henry come back this way. Everyone else heads back except Jared, Sadie, and Joe. Nǎinai grins deviously as she hands me my jacket and I take off Joe’s to give it back to him. I stay near Rey as Jared starts running around with Jade and copies whatever she does. Joe stays within a few feet of me. I’m not sure why. He doesn’t strike up small talk, nor do I. Oddly, the silence isn’t uncomfortable between us.
Is he quiet like me, or just doesn’t know what to say? Suddenly, Jade and Jared are running toward us playfully screaming as they throw confetti at us. Rey and I grab some that fall to the ground and throw some back at them as Sadie tries to catch them in her mouth.
About fifteen minutes later, Maggie, Henry, and Henry’s parents arrive. Once back at the house, Henry makes more introductions before we sit down to eat. The meal is slow and long but entertaining. Everyone is speaking to each other in Mandarin during the entire meal.
Mr. and Mrs. Li find out that they indirectly know Henry’s parents, Lin and Nuo Wú, through mutual acquaintances and share pleasant stories of their friends, and differences between living in China and America. The topic eventually steers over to Maggie and Henry and eventually over to general topics for discussion. Everyone speaks from time to time, even Jade and Rey. Joe and I are the only two who are quiet. Mr. and Mrs. Wú inquire about how Jared and I became a part of the family and all eyes turn to us.
I know that Mr. and Mrs. Li and Nǎinai are being respectful towards us to tell our own story, especially me since I’m not one to talk about myself. If we were all more familiar with the Wú’s, I know that Nǎinai would be adding some of her opinions. Jared looks at me and knows to take the lead. I add in a sentence or two here and there showing my respect to our guests though it’s uncomfortable for me. They are pleased with the level of Mandarin both Jared and I speak which is easily seen in their expressions.
Jared leaves out several details which he knows not to disclose. There is still a little bit of information Maggie’s parents don’t know about me. I should say, I don’t think they know about me unless Maggie has filled them in.
Jared describes how I started working with him at the florist shop that is across from the Peking Wok in downtown LA and that’s how we meet Maggie. He adds to his story how I was very shy and don't speak much. He teases how Mr. and Mrs. Li fell in love with me instantly because the first words that spoke to them were Mandarin. This creates smiles all around the table and Mr. and Mrs. Wú nod acceptingly of me. Jared jokes how Maggie’s family was a little suspicious of him at first but was pleased when they found out that he wasn’t interested in Maggie beyond friendship. Mr. and Mrs. Wú seem content with Jared’s storytelling.
Nǎinai asks how Henry and Blue Eyes knew each other. Before Henry began his story, I looked at Joe to see a reaction—nothing but smiles. Henry briefly explains that he and Joe had met their freshman year of college. They were roommates and have been brothers ever since. Henry kept his story simple and short as well, obviously leaving out many details.
Later, as most of us have finished eating, we continue talking and Jade comes over to sit with me. She loves everyone in her family, but she usually singles me out when we’re all together. Her legs are on either side of my lap as she faces towards me and twiddles with a lock of my hair.
“Do you think he likes his gift?” Jade asks me in Mandarin.
“Who?” I ask to make sure I know to who she’s referring.
“Joe, silly,” She indicates with a giggle.
“I would think so. He’s wearing it isn’t he?” I reply encouragingly.
“Yeah…but that doesn’t mean he likes it,” Jade states with a little disbelief.
“Then ask him,” I instruct.
Without thinking, Jade turns her attention to Joe who is sitting across from me and poses her question in Mandarin.
Joe smiles and replies, “Yes. Very much so. I’ll keep it forever and ever.”
“Well look at that,” proclaims Nǎinai. “Blue Eyes does understand and speak Mandarin.”
The rest of the families’ attention is on Joe now, not completely understanding Nǎinai’s declaration. If I’m not mistaken, Joe slightly blushes.
Inwardly I start to panic. Joe understood everything that has been said up to this point. I am mortified, but then, I get a little mad at how he kept himself composed and quiet the entire time.
“And here we thought he was just as quiet as you, Emma,” Jared chimes in.
I give him a slightly scolding expression too avoid drawing too much attention my way. Thankfully, no one else adds their thoughts or opinions.
“I’m not much of a talker,” Joe shares.
“Indeed,” confirms Mr. Wú. “Joe is very much like his father.”
“Well, he’s perfect for Emma,” Nǎinai proposes.
I inwardly wince, and for some reason, I look at Joe who is just grinning from ear to ear.
We sit for about another hour around the dining table. After finishing her dessert, Jade gets daring and tries to steal some from Jared. She’s able to snitch a bit or two before they play a game of swords with their spoons. Jared usually lets Jade win, but not when it comes to Nǎinai homemade confections. Still wanting more, Jade searches for a new target.
“You gonna eat that?” She asks Joe in English.
“What?” he replies playfully.
“That,” she says pointing to the rest of his rice pudding. “Are you going to finish it?”
“Yes,” He smirks. “Why?”
“Doesn’t look like you’re eating it, “ Jade states.
“I am. Slowly,” Joe replies as he takes a small scoop and surrounds it with his gorgeous lips.
Jade laughs a little as she gives Joe a devilish look. He pulls his bowl closer as his grin stretches outward. Kneeling on my legs, Jade gets a little daring and leans more across the table, stretching her right arm out that is holding a spoon. Joe pulls his bowl in just a bit more, takes a spoonful to his mouth slowly as his eyes shift to me for a few seconds, and then back to Jade as she reaches farther. This has turned into a full-on game of the battle of the wills and I’m curiously watching to see who wins. Jade has been known to win with persistence.
Unable to reach without drawing attention from her parents, Jade backs away and slowly creeps off of my lap. Joe watches her out of the corner of his eye while he peers at me. My eyes dart back and forth between him and Jade’s movements. Joe shifts in his seat that gives Jade a clear shot to his rice pudding, pretending he doesn’t see her. Last second, after scooping some up on her spoon, Joe grabs her arm startling her a little.
“Hey,” he says.
Jade giggles.
“Take it,” Joe says to her reassuringly. “I’m done. You can have it.”
Jade beams with happiness as she takes the bowl quickly to make sure he wasn’t teasing. She returns to my lap.
As the group starts to break up in the house between clearing the table and having tea and smaller conversations, we younger adults migrate in one area as the senior adults congregate in another. Maggie, Henry, and Jared are doing most of the talking while Joe and I stay fairly quiet. On occasion, I glance in Joe’s direction while I pet Sadie and I catch him looking at me.
Jared mentions to Henry that we’re going to play some volleyball at the beach this weekend and invites him and Joe to join us. Maggie jumps in, insisting they come.
Henry looks at Joe for a reply.
Joe says, “I don’t have any plans. So, I’m in if you are.”
And so it begins, socializing with Maggie’s new love interest and friend, a routine that I should be used to by now.
I excuse myself first from the celebration since I’ve got to be able to catch one of the last trains before they stop for the night. As I finish saying farewell to everyone, Jared says he’ll walk me to the station. Maggie, Henry, and Joe proclaim that they’ll join us which makes me a little uncomfortable. No one has escorted me to the station in a long time.
As we’re walking, Henry asks why I don’t just drive home.
Without thinking, Maggie blurts out, “Oh, Emma doesn’t drive. She hates cars.”
I sharply turn around hearing her and glare. I try to soften my eyes immediately as an attempt to imply my discomfort with the topic.
“Oops. Sorry,” she sincerely apologizes.
“Why do you hate cars?“ Joe asks with a hint of concern.
“No reason,” Jared interjects. “Besides, the train is the fastest way from here to Emma’s in —“
I shove Jared with my elbow before he says where I live. He smiles an honest smile with regret as he winces.
I can only hope that my two best friends keep their mouths shut and don’t disclose anything else about me after I leave. I prefer that they don’t talk about me at all, I don’t like strangers knowing too much about me.
The train arrives just a few minutes later after some awkward silence. I kiss and hug Jared and Maggie farewell. Everyone pets Sadie and I wave to Henry and Joe from a distance as I walk to get on the train. They seem to be easier with the fact that I’m not embracing them in some way.